samosa recipe, how to make samosa recipe | punjabi samosa recipe

punjabi samosa recipe with step by step photos and tips – i love samosas and regularly buy them from outside. actually, i have eaten samosas from all over india like delhi, mumbai, goa, hyderabad, bangalore, pune…

samosas are a national passion.. where ever you go, you will be able to get samosas in india. they are also a popular street food in india.

the combo of samosa with masala chai is irresistible. it took me 3 failures to get a perfect samosa crust and the credit goes to a few of my friends. they were generous enough to share the tricks of making the samosa pastry and how to fry them, so that the crust is flaky and no tiny air bubble pockets are formed on the crust.

to get the right texture and flakiness in the samosa pastry cover, there are two ways they are fried. apart from frying, they can be baked too for a low fat version. i experimented with all three different methods.

two ways of deep frying the samosa to get the flaky crust:

1. frying samosa once – in this method, heat the oil to high temperature and then slid the samosas gently into the hot oil. as soon as you add the samosa to the hot oil, reduce the flame to low and now fry the samosa on low flame. this will make sure that the samosa does not absorb too much oil. if you directly put the samosa on low temperature oil and fry in sim then it will absorb too much oil. if you fry in hot oil, then there are chances of tiny air bubble pockets on the pastry. the samosas are also not cooked from inside.

2. double frying the samosas – this is a little lengthy method and the one which i will suggest you to try while making samosas at home. in this method the samosas are very lightly fried not allowing them to become golden. just that the dough cooks and thats it.

add the samosas in hot oil and remove them when the crust has become opaque and creamish white. just enough fried that if you remove it from oil then it will not break. drain & keep them aside. do this with all the samosas. later lower the flame and then fry the once fried samosas again till they are golden.

with both the methods, the final samosas will be crisp & flaky from outside and cooked well from inside… like the one you get in the markets and there will be no tiny air bubbles in the crust. a pic below of the samosa fried twice.

an alternative method to bake instead of frying:

3. baking the samosas - i also baked the samosas. there was not much difference in the taste. but texture wise, i find the fried samosa better than the baking method. from health perspective, baking method is better. i baked at 180 degrees C for about 32 mins. below a pic of baked samosas.

a few points to remember for the samosa dough crust:

1. enough fat or moyen should be added to the flour. one of my friends suggested 1/5th of fat to 1 part of flour in weight. i have reduced the amount of fat in this recipe.
2. the amount of water added depends on the quality of the flour. so remember to knead into a tight firm dough and add water in turns when kneading.
2. don’t roll the samosa crust too thick otherwise it will take too much time to brown it and it will become hard while frying on low heat and secondly heat will not go inside and the filling will not be cooked properly.
3. also don’t roll the samosa too thin, so that it is not able to contain the potato stuffing. so remember these points to roll the samosa dough. you need some practice to gauge the right pastry thickness.

samosa filling:

1. i personally like the punjabi samosa which is served in north india. in this peas and potatoes are the main ingredients and the filling is not crushed to a smoothness. the aloo or potato pieces are soft but intact and there are few green chili pieces also in the filing.
2. in some places, they add raisins also in the filling which gives it a little sweet taste in between. sometimes cashews are also added.
3. in some places, the filling is totally mashed unlike the punjabi samosas.
4. if the green chilies are not added in the samosa filling then fried green chilies are usually served separately.
5. some people also add ginger garlic paste and on few rare occasion, i have found chopped carrots pieces also in the filing.

my personal choice will always be a punjabi samosa. the filling for a punjabi samosa also has to be equally good. i have mentioned two potato-peas stuffings in the recipe details. in the first one (also shown in the step by step pics) i have freshly ground the spices. the second filling recipe is a bit quick and easy. both the stuffing recipes are adapted from my home science notes.

i have also made a video which i have embedded towards the end of the step by step. the video shows the shaping, stuffing and deep frying the samosas. you can have a look at the video if the pics don’t help.

lets start step by step samosa recipe:

preparing the samosa pastry:

1. take the all purpose flour, carom seeds, salt in a bowl. mix well and add ghee or oil.

2. with your fingertips rub the ghee in the flour to get a breadcrumb like consistency. the whole mixture should lump together when gathered.

3. add 1 or 2 tbsp water.

4. begin to knead adding water as required.

5. knead to a firm dough. cover the dough with a moistened napkin and keep aside for 30 mins.

23: apply or brush some water on the top cone edge. pinch a part in the edge as shown in pic below. this helps the samosas to stand.

24: press both the edges. be sure there are no cracks. the edges should be joined very well so that the stuffing does not come out while frying.

25: prepare all the samosas this way and keep covered with a moist kitchen napkin.

26: now heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. once the oil becomes hot (test by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly once added to the hot oil) gently slide 3-4 of the prepares stuffed samosas & then reduce the flame to low.

27: turn over in between and fry the samosas till golden on a low flame.

add the potato cubes and saute for 2-3 minutes with frequent stirring.

keep the filling aside to cool.

preparing stuffing 2:

boil or steam the potatoes & peas till they are cooked completely.

peel the potatoes and chop them into cubes.

heat oil in a pan.

crackle the cumin first, then add the ginger-green chili paste and saute till the raw aroma of ginger goes away.

lower the flame and add all the dry spice powders one by one.

stir and then add potato cubes & peas along with salt.

saute for 2-3 minutes.

switch off and add the chopped coriander leaves from top and stir well.

keep aside.

shaping, stuffing and frying the samosa:

after keeping the dough for 30-40 mins. knead the dough lightly again.

divided the dough 6 equal pieces.

take each piece and roll in your palms first to make a smooth ball.

then roll it with a rolling pin keeping the thickness neither thin nor thick.

cut with a knife or a pastry cutter through the center of the samosa pastry.

with a brush or with your finger tips, on the straight edge of the sliced pastry, apply some water.

join the two ends bringing the watered edge on top of the plain edge.

press the edges so that they get sealed well.

stuff the prepared samosa cone with the prepared potato-peas stuffing.

apply some water with your fingertips or brush on the round samosa cone circumference.

pinch a part on the edge (check the video & pics). this helps the samosas to stand.

press both the edges. be sure there are no cracks.

prepare all the samosas this way and keep covered with a moist kitchen napkin.

now heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. once the oil becomes hot (test by adding a small piece of dough – it should come up quickly once added to the hot oil) gently slide the prepares stuffed samosas & quickly reduce the flame to low.

you can also fry the samosas twice as i have mentioned above in the post.

turn over in between and fry the samosas till golden. drain samosas on paper towels to remove excess oil.

fry the samosas in batches.

for frying the second batch, again increase the temperature of the oil.

add the samosas and then lower the flame, thereby decreasing the temperature of oil.

this way fry all the samosas in batches.

baking the samosas:

pre heat the oven to 180 degree C.

brush oil lightly on the prepared samosas.

place them in a baking tray and bake for 30-35 mins or till light golden at 180 degrees C.

* if using mango powder, then add directly when adding peas. no need to roast and grind the mango powder with the other whole spices.

many times samosa is served with fried green chilies. slit the green chilies keeping it whole. shallow fry them and later sprinkle some salt and mix. you can also sprinkle some chaat masala or amchur powder.

These detailed instructions and pictures are so helpful! I experiment with different fillings, and most recently made Ethiopian spiced lentils & potatoes for my stuffing, but your tips on making the pastry improved my samosas so much. I will try your recipe for the potato filling next time!
Thanks!

welcome lauri. thanks for your positive feedback. i tried printing the recipe from my desktop (windows 8) and i got the print option. if you share some more technical details then i can pass this error to the software developer of this plugin.

Hi Dassana,
Kudos for such detailed posts !!! They really help a lot. Though I am yet to try this one but I tried matar kachoris using ur recipe and techniques and was able to get perfect crispy and flaky crust. Now here I need ur help. As I went through different websites for samosa recipe, I got confused as some say that the dough should be soft n pliable, while some say it should be tight. Please throw some light on this. Also, how is the samosa dough different from that of kachori. And how thick should the kachori crust be rolled in comparison to samosa crust.

thanks himani. for samosa the dough should be tight. if it is soft then there will be bubbles on the crust. in terms of preparation both are similar. in terms of crust, kachori crust is more softer than a samosa crust. you can keep the kachori crust thick but for samosa its better if its medium in thickness (neither too thin nor too thick).

wow…such a detailed, well-photographed, well-explained recipe.
Hats off to u ma’am for so much patience n skill
Love ur recipes. Dunno wat wud I have cooked for so long if I hadn’t cum across ur blog
Perfect recipes
I cud go on n on praising u but I’m sure by now u get d point tat I love ur recipes
Thank u thank u thank u sooooo much

thanks rani. just cover the samosas with a moist cloth and keep in the fridge. another way is you fry them till they the cover turns opaque. then cool at room temperature and keep in the fridge covered in a box or container. then let them come at room temperature next day before frying.

Thank you so much for such detailed information on making such a wonder dish. I first tried them from a little shop in Vancouver BC Canada and fell in love with such a great treat. I am looking forward to trying your recipe. Again, thank you so much. Kathleen

My brother loves these samosas very much. He always tells me to buy it for him when I go out! Now, thanks to your amazing detailed recipe, I can try and make it at home. I have to go shopping for ingredients first!
Thank u so much! I hope they turn out great!

Thanks a ton for all these amazing recipes. Tried stuffing one and the samosas came out really yummy. Alsso made papdis..I have been using your recipes For every veggie, daal etc and become a masterchef for my family.

thanks for the recipie i changed the filling to chicken but they were still delicious
but i would like to ask what if you dont want to make 14 samosas in total. because i want to make for my other relatives and freinds does that mean i have double the ingredients for example 2 cups of flour=4 cups of flour? but the samosas were AMAZING!!!!!!…..

I would have liked to see the video start with the dough (mixing and kneading). Mine is not working. I have added 3X the water called for and it is still cracking. It is not kneadable! Not rollable. Process-wize, starting with a wet dough (all the water and 2/3 the flour) would be much easier. That way, you could mix/knead it, adding flour, and stop when you have the right texture. This has been way, way more work already, and it is still not coming together. On the bright side, it smells wonderful!

the addition of water depends upon the quality of flour. some flours require more water and some don’t. if the dough is not kneadable, then more water needs to be added. thats how it is usually done. just that the dough needs to be firm and not soft, but one that can be rolled. your suggestion is also good in a way. but if the water becomes too much than it can be an issue. we always add water in parts and then knead the dough.

I have to try this recipe,especially the baked version.The way my amma makes is pretty similar but what she does to avoid air bubbles is toasting the samosa cover lightly,not browning them but just toast the layers on a tawa for 3-4 seconds each side.This will make sure the layer doesn’t form any air bubbles while frying.